Bait holding fish hook unit



March 3, 1959 A. 'Hf PAPE l BAITHOLDING FISH HOOK UNIT Filed Sept. 24, 1956 1N V EN TOR.

4L/G05 T H PAPE /5 BY United States Patent "ice .m8515550` nmrgnonnmerisn Hoort e August H.; Papel-Kentiielda Calif.,A assignor to j `I-Iiln'ler Fi-Pape, Sunnyvalle, lCal-if.

y Appifcmpasjepembefzr, 19st-, stri-amb; 611,428

4 'Claimw "(Glt 13a-e442)` s This inventionrelates to'iishv hooks of the type` adapted toi holdgbaib thereon Without penetration of the bait.

It isf-known that .i hooks of this tyjpfe comprisingI two hooksf-are ntadewith. theirV shanksjoined to a common.` eye so that shanks of the hooks may be spread to re-` silientlyclamp baitgtherebetween. The pressure of the shanks onf-live bait is.- likely to kill the bait, or shorten thelifethereof,Y also interfere with natural movement ofthe.` bait in the-water.` `When dead bait of the whole fish-varietyis,` held bysucha-` hook,itis disposed a't suchanangle-- to; the shanks as will objectionably expose the hooks and shanks.` This angular relation of the dead` baitfish.- to the-shanks-also-causes the bait tok assume an `unnatural position in-` trolling or otherwise moving the baiAtLthrough-the-water.- j

Itisy anxobject of thepresent-invention to provide an improvedbaitholding fish hook unit which eliminates therobjections. above-notedby reason of having embodied therein novel means-forholding` a live bait fish in subst antially parallelrelation to the longitudinal axis of the unitwithout-injuring the fish, causing the fish to assume an,` unnatural.` position, interfering withl normal movement of the` fish in fthe-water, or objectionably exposingthe. hook unit.` A

It isanother object of this invention to provide a fish unitsuchas. described in-which the aforesaid novel hait holding meansmay beused to advantage for` holding` a dead bait or cut bait in a position favorable to. havingathe baitedunit taken by a fish.

It is another objectof this invention to provide a` fish liookfwherein n ovel means' are operable for embracing; bait" to, securely hold the-bait on the hook in `a particulrly effective manner.

A further object hereof is the provision of a baitholding fishhoole` in` which; novelf` means---ar'e--jprovided adjacent the eye and adjacent the barbed end or ends of the unit, so that the bait may be" embraced at axially spaced-pointsand held-alongside the unit.'

Yet another object.. of. this` invention' is the provision of ihokruni't suchas described,. wherein a snelh-leader or? the fishing line attached. tothe unit may be looped a`1' `t "und".the` bait in a particularly effective manner to aid in holding the bait in the desired position.

An additional object is the provision of a fish hook unit wherein portions thereof are constructed and arranged to embrace a bait fish around the head and the tail portions of the fish, respectively, in such a manner that the fish will be securely held against dislodgment in casting and trolling without injuring the fish or interfering appreciably with natural movement of the fish in the water.

It isa further object of this invention to provide a fish hook such as described having a double snell or leader arranged so that one part of the leader or snell may be formed as a loop to embrace a part of the bait.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a fish hook unit such as described, which includes two hooks having their shanks joined to and extended divergently from a common eye; Thev bills and portions; of the shanks joinedv thereto are offset laterally in the saine` direction from the remainder and substantially straight portions of the shanks".` These offset portions cross one' another between1 the shanks proper andi thebarbedv ends of the hooks.` With this formation the' barbed end portions of thebills may bepressed towardi.

one another to spread= the shanks` so thatthe tail-portion-` of a bait fish may be inserted therebetween.- and thereby: clampedj with both bar-bedendsdisposed onone side of` thefish while' theshanks properextendclose along` the other side of the fishV toward thehead of the fish.` When' the tail"` portion ofA the-bait fish `isZ embraced by thehook unit, aloop may be' formed by a part of the snell` or line connectedwith` the hook so that it readily may be-looped around the head portionof the fish-,.pre'ffV erably behind the gills. In this manner the baitA will be securely held-on-the hook in the desired positionsuch that` whether dead or alive it will present a life-like appear. ance in the water favorable to being taken by a fish.

It is another object of this invention to-provide a fish hookunit such as described which in form may have one of the bills and the barbed end associated therewith cut off or removed, if itI is desired to havel but onebarbed hook in the unit instead of' two, and wherein the bait will still be subject to being held in place on the unit between-the shanks in the advantageous manner hereinbefore noted. This removal may be necessary in instances where fish and gamelaws prohibit userof multiple hooks or in case one barbed hook is` preferred by' the particular fisherman.

I'willl describe three forms of the bait-holding fish hookunit embodyingy my invention, and will then define the novel features thereof in claims.

In the drawings: j

Fig. 1 isa` side elevational view of a fish hook unit` embodying the present invention as it would appear with a" bait fish` held in the desired positionthereon; p

Fig. 2` is a sideelevational" view similar to Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale showing more in detail howthe bait" fish is embraced by the hook unit;

Fig". 3 is a top plan view of thehook assembly and" bait fish shown in Fig. 2; p

Fig 4 is a` fragmentary elevational view similari to Fig. 2`- ofi a modified form of this invention;` and l Fig. 5 is a perspective view of'the`hook unit, removed from the bait fish.

In carrying out this invention I- employ a pair ofl'fsh hooks having a common eye 6J from which substantially' str'aig'lltgshanks 7 extend divergently to'` the bills 8. Th'esef bills are provided `with the usual barbed and pointed ends 9.

Adjacent" juncture of the sha'nks `7 viith the bills 8 theshanksn are bent to provide laterally' offset portions' 10 extending in the same direction to one side' of the shanks and'I which cross one another at the outer extremities thereof; that is, between `the shanks proper and the` poin'tef barbed ends"9'. This" dispos'es'th'e' major portions of the bills 8 and the barbed ends 9 in laterally offset relation to the shanks proper as will be apparent with reference to Fig. 3, but with the bills facing in opposite directions.

As here shown the hook unit is made of a single piece of resilient steel Wire but may be made of separate hooks joined adjacent the ends of the shanks in any suitable manner, provided the shanks extend divergently from the point or eye, and with the bills and barbed ends in the form and arrangement here shown.

Means are provided on the hook unit hereof for embracing the head portion of a bait fish while the 4tail portion of the fish is embraced by the bill porti-ons 8 of the hook. As here shown this means is embodied in a doubl Patented Marz- 3, 1:959Av flexible snell `12 joined to the eye 6 and adapted to be coupled, for example, as at 13 to a fishing line indicated at 14. This snell may be fixed to the eye 6 in any suitable manner provided one length or strand thereof is longer than the other and extends through the eye so that it may be formed into a loop as shown in Figs. 1-4. Obviously, a single snell could be used between the eyev and fishing line or the shing line itself could be used provided either is attached to the hook so that a loop may be formed at and connected with eye. The showing in Figs. 1-4 teaches how a single snell or the fishing line could be attached to the hook so that a loop similar to the loop 15 may be formed. Accordingly, it is thought that it is unnecessary to illustrate the manner in which a single flexible element or snell on the fishing line may be connected to form the loop. The advantage in employing a double snell is that should one part of the snell part or be cut the other part will remain intact. Another advantage in having the double snell fastened to the eye as here provided, is that the snell parts readily can be varied as to relative length so that when the part thereof connected with Vthe fishing line is pulled or placed under tension the loop 15 will be contracted the desired extent such that it will hold the live `bait without cutting into or injuring the bait.

The double snell 12 as here shown is wrapped around and between the shanks 7 and the eye in a manner forming a knot 16 securely fastening the Snell to the hook. Any suitable knot or method of fastening the snell to the hook may be used, provided it will make possible the formation of a loop similar to the loop 15.

In the use of the hook unit, the bills 8 are forced together to provide a space therebetween and between the shanks 7 so that the tail portion of a bait fish may be passed between the bills. Upon release of the bills they will spring together due to the resiliency of the hook unit and thereby closely embrace the tail portion of the fish. After the tail portion is embraced the loop 15 is placed around the head portion of the fish preferably behind the gills as shown in Figs. 1-4. With the fish thus held around the tail and head, the two barbed ends 9 lie along one side of the fish while the shanks 7 and eye 6 lie along the other side of the fish as shown in Fig. 3, thereby securely holding the sh parallel with the hooks and the line or snell leading therefrom. In the use of a live bait fish, the fish may swim naturally and is not injured while held on the hook. Moreover, the hook is effectively concealed. In the case of va dead bait iish, the fish is held so that. it maybe moved through the water as though alive.

, As shown in Fig. 4, the loop 15 may be covered with a rubber tube 17 or similar soft cushioning material so as not to injure a live bait fish. In all other respects this modifiedform ofthe hook is the same aspshown in Figs.

bait on the hook unit without the loop although for sh, animal andrinsect bait the use of the loop is preferable.

If it is desired to use the hook unit hereof with but one barbed point, one of the bills 8 may be cut ot for example at the point designated 18 as shown in Fig. 5.

With reference to the foregoing description and accompanying drawing it will be apparent that the present invention provides a novel fish hook unit wherein shank means, an eye and one or more barbed-pointed ends of the unit are provided with means adjacent the eye and adjacent the one or more barbed ends for embracing bait at axially spaced points on the bait with the latter extending alongside the shank means and held on the unit in a manner most favorable to having the fish take the bait and become securely hooked.

1; A bait holding fish hook including; a pair of opposed shanks having an eye at one end; and portions joined to the other ends of said shanks and laterally offsetffrom said shanks in the same direction' and terminating 'in barbed points, said portions crossing one another between the juncture thereof with saidshanks and said points. v

2. A bait holding fish hook comprising: anvyeye'a'pair of resilient shanks extending divergently from' said'eye in opposed relation to one another; and bill portions joined to said shanks and terminating in' barbed portions; said bill portions being laterally oset from one side of said shanks and crossing one another between said points and the juncture of the bill portion with said shanks.`

3. A bait holding fish hook comprising; van eye; a pair of resilient shanksv extending divergently 'from said eye in opposed relation tol one another; `and bill"`portions joined to said shanks and terminating in Vbarbed portions; said bill portions being laterally offset from one side `of said shanks and crossing one another between said points and the juncture of the bill portions with said'shanks; and means joined to said eye forming aloopfor ernbracing bait; said bill portions, being operable for embracing said bait while said bait is held by said loop'.

4. A fish hook comprising: an eye; a pair of opposed shanks extending from said eye; bills joined to said 'shanks and terminating in pointed barbed ends; portions of said shanks and bills adjacent to juncture of the 'shanks' and bills being laterally offset from one side of said shank, said bills crossing one another between the shanksl'nd the pointed barbed ends, whereby the bills may be spread to embrace a portion of bait; and means joined to the hook adjacent the said eye for embracing another portion of said bait so that said shanks lie well along one sideof the bait.

References Cited in the le of this patent I UNITED STATES PATENTS Roberts vDec. 25, 1956 

